Chapter 12: A Big Customer
"What's the situation, student? You can't just enter the kitchen. If you're having difficulties, talk to your class teacher first and take on school missions to earn a reward."
The middle-aged man wearing a chef's hat, He Ruixiang, spoke in a stern tone as he pulled Huo Yuhao's hand and led him outside.
Huo Yuhao didn't resist and allowed himself to be led out. The cafeteria's kitchen was a matter of food safety, so it was indeed not a place to enter freely. However, he was truly so hungry he couldn't stand it anymore. He wondered if he could trade his green fish for some food; he really couldn't bear to eat them raw.
"Wait a moment, Uncle," Huo Yuhao said, pulling back on the chef's sleeve. "These are green fish I caught in the river outside. They're all clean and fresh. I want to grill them to sell for money. These five bronze coins are my entire fortune; I'll leave them with you as collateral. Can I rent a grill and some charcoal? Once I've earned some soul coins, I'll pay you the rest of the fee!"
It was fine even if he wasn't given food; he could still endure the hunger for now, but he couldn't stay hungry forever. He had to find a way to make money.
A faint fluctuation of spirit power emanated from He Ruixiang as his clothes were tugged. He looked displeased, staring down at the single green fish and the five bronze coins in the boy's palm.
Huo Yuhao widened his innocent eyes, looking directly into He Ruixiang's eyes.
He won't just throw me out, will he? Anyway, he had cast aside his Face. If the man thought it wasn't enough, he would even put up the Rank 5 spirit tool, the white tiger dagger, as collateral.
He Ruixiang examined the fish's eyes; they were quite clear, meaning it was a fresh fish. Then, seeing Huo Yuhao's thin cheeks and watching the boy's eyes dart around as he considered things, he thought the kid didn't look like a liar.
He thought back to his own journey as a Spirit Master student, which had also been a work-study experience. He hadn't even been able to graduate from the Shrek Outer Court and ended up spending his days here as a chef. After half a lifetime of hard Cultivation, he was only a Level 41 Spirit Ancestor, but he still hadn't given up on his Cultivation!
He Ruixiang's heart eventually softened, and he sighed, "Follow me."
Huo Yuhao grinned happily and followed He Ruixiang. One tall and one short figure walked through the dining area toward the storage room.
He Ruixiang opened the dark red single door of the storage room and stood outside, saying to Huo Yuhao, "I remember there's a grill inside. As for charcoal, there are a few boxes of scrap charcoal here. It's one silver coin to rent it for a day. I finish work at eight tonight. This is the key to the storage room; you know what to do, right?"
Huo Yuhao looked at the key in He Ruixiang's hand, took it with both hands, and nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Uncle! I'll clean the grill and put it back before eight, and I'll return the key to you on time!"
"Mhm," He Ruixiang grunted indifferently before leaving. This was Shrek Academy; he doubted this kid could cause any trouble. Moreover, he quite admired the quality of taking the initiative to earn money.
Huo Yuhao put the tripod stand, the iron grill (about a meter long and twenty centimeters wide), the wire rack, a box of charcoal, wooden skewers, and brushes into his storage soul tool. Then, he had the gall to grab some seasonings as well.
Returning to the dormitory, he washed and dried the grill. By the time he finished preparing the green fish, over an hour had passed. He walked out of the Shrek Academy main gate, where recruitment was still ongoing. Many adults in lavish clothing were bringing their children to register.
The Shrek gate was crowded, with spirit beast carriages traveling along two wide streets.
As Huo Yuhao wore the Shrek freshman uniform, many children of his age who hadn't enrolled yet cast envious glances at him. Although he was only an Outer Court student, he was still a student of the number one Spirit Master academy on the continent—a dream for many.
Walking about a hundred meters to the left of the Shrek gate, Huo Yuhao set up the tripod, placed the grill on it, added charcoal, and used a fire starter to light the fire.
With some blowing from Huo Yuhao's "iron lungs," the scattered red-glowing charcoal quickly flared up.
Feeling the scorching heat of the charcoal with his hand, Huo Yuhao thought to himself, It's about ready. He placed the wire rack on top, brushed it with oil, and took the split and skewered green fish out of his storage soul tool to grill them.
Under the high-temperature roasting, the green fish soon sizzled and changed shape, and the aroma of the meat slowly wafted out. Huo Yuhao activated his Purple Demon Eye to control the subtle heat, grilling ten Grilled Fish on the wire rack at the same time.
Once the Grilled Fish were toasted to a golden brown, Huo Yuhao didn't immediately start calling out to sell them. Instead, he began to feast on them himself with large bites.
Practicing the Eight-Nine Arcane Art earlier had nearly drained him dry; he had to eat more to recover.
The skin of the Grilled Fish was fragrant and crispy with a layer of saltiness on the outside, while the meat inside was juicy, tender, and naturally sweet. Every bite was bursting with flavor.
After eating five Grilled Fish in a row, Huo Yuhao felt thoroughly satisfied.
This left the passersby in a daze. The fish smelled delicious, and some people wanted to buy it, but seeing Huo Yuhao eating like a Taotie, no one dared to come over and make a purchase.
"How much are you selling this fish for?" A cold, youthful voice suddenly sounded in front of Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao finished the last bite of his Grilled Fish, sucking the bones so clean that even a fly would slip on them. He hurriedly looked up.
Short blue-pink hair swayed in the breeze, and the eyes were also blue. The person's appearance could be described as extraordinarily handsome, though a bit youthful.
Wang Dong? With such distinctive features, Huo Yuhao had a guess in his heart; it should be her, right? Although his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul had an X-ray vision function, he wasn't so vulgar as to directly verify her gender.
After being dazed for a moment, Huo Yuhao said calmly, "One silver coin."
"I'll take one." Wang Dong took out a glittering gold coin and handed it to Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao was embarrassed. "I can't make change. I just started setting up my stall, and I only have five bronze coins on me. How about... you buy a few more?"
Wang Dong's cold eyes didn't even look at Huo Yuhao, appearing very arrogant. "Keep the change."
Since the other person was wealthy, Huo Yuhao couldn't say much more; after all, the more of these big customers, the better. He said crisply, "Alright, here you go. Be careful, it's hot."
Earning a gold coin right at the start felt wonderful. Huo Yuhao examined the gold coin; it felt like it weighed about three grams. Back in his old world, this would be worth over a thousand at the very least.
Wang Dong took the Grilled Fish and walked away, but as soon as she took a bite, her eyes widened in regret—it was so delicious! She paused for a moment but then continued walking; it would be too much of a loss of Face to turn back now... With the business off to a lucky start, the aroma of the Grilled Fish also began to attract many customers. Especially for Shrek students, being Spirit Masters meant they had large appetites and no resistance to delicious food.
With over a hundred and ten green fish split in half, that meant over two hundred and twenty pieces, each for one silver coin.
He sold them until noon, and Huo Yuhao had earned a total of twenty-three gold and three silver coins.
It was all thanks to Wang Dong; otherwise, it would have been twenty-two gold.
As Huo Yuhao sold the Grilled Fish, his eyes were constantly narrowed in a smile. So much money, so much money—this was the first time he had ever held so much.
Working for someone else was out of the question; he could only be his own boss like this.
Huo Yuhao hummed a little song as he packed up his stall. Before leaving, he went to the food market to find a fish vendor. The cost price for a green fish was five bronze coins, and the quality wasn't even as good as the ones he caught in the river.
After hesitating for a moment, Huo Yuhao still bought a hundred processed green fish. With his Storage Ring, he didn't have to worry about running out of space or the fish spoiling.